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5 things to know heading into Super Bowl Sunday

Published on NewsOK
Modified: February 2, 2014 at 3:27 am •
Published: February 2, 2014

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NEW YORK (AP) — It's time. Finally.

After a week of interviews, practices and plenty of hype, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are ready to kick off the Super Bowl in a matchup that makes even the most casual football fans drool.

A sign for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVIII stands in front of MetLife Stadium Sat. Feb. 1, 2014, in East Ruthoford, N.J. The stadium will be the site of Sunday's championship game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the first Super Bowl held outdoors at a cold-weather site.

"We're ready to go," Seattle coach Pete Carroll declared Saturday after his team's final walkthrough. "That's kind of how we are. I don't know if it's loose, but we're where we're supposed to be."

The chilly conditions that concerned so many were a non-factor Saturday, with temperatures in the mid-40s under clear, blue skies. In the weeks and months leading up to the big game, many wondered if the Super Bowl would be played in bone-chilling temperatures with some snow — or even worse, a blizzard.

It won't be a winter wonderland Sunday in New Jersey, although there was a 50 percent chance of rain or snow flurries. Fans will still have to bundle up a bit, but it probably won't even be the coldest Super Bowl.

Forecasters were calling for a high of 49 degrees, with the evening low only expected to dip to 32 degrees — likely after the game is over. The coldest Super Bowl was in 1972 in New Orleans, when the temperature was a reported 34 degrees with a wind chill of 24.

"We're pretty much weather-proof," Broncos coach John Fox said. "We live in Denver, so we practice in just about every element there is."

Here are five things to know Sunday as the Super Bowl draws closer to kickoff:

MEATY MATCHUP: The Super Bowl features the classic pocket passer in Denver's Peyton Manning against Seattle's quick-footed, quick-witted scrambler in Russell Wilson, who represents the new guard at quarterback in the NFL along with the likes of Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton.

Seattle's defense will be looking to make Manning uncomfortable by forcing him outside the passing pocket. Denver, meanwhile, will try to contain Wilson by keeping him in the pocket and prevent him from making plays by scrambling.

Both teams are 15-3 and have relied on their quarterbacks to get them here, despite their different styles.

"It'll be great to go against Peyton," Wilson said. "Obviously, it's not me versus him, but he's a guy that I have so much respect for. All of the amazing things he's done over his career, he's built this unbelievable legacy, and he's one of the best — if not the best — quarterbacks to ever play the game. One day I want to be like him in terms of the way he thinks.

"He's just a master of the game."

SOUNDS OF THE GAME: Listen up!

In the hours before the Super Bowl, several members of the Broadway cast of "Rock of Ages" will perform two 30-minute sets outside MetLife Stadium. The second will close out Fox's pregame show from 5:10-5:40 p.m. EST. Phillip Phillips and The Band Perry also will perform before the game, and Bill O'Reilly will have a live interview with President Barack Obama.